CattleFax - Weekly Recap

The fed cattle market was not fully established in the North at press time, but the market tone was steady to softer last week. On trade that had occurred in the North it was in a range of $248 to $252, near steady with the previous week. In the South, live cattle traded at $161 to $162, $1 to $2 lower than the previous week.

Boxed beef prices were mixed for the week as Choice product closed steady and Selects closed lower, following the seasonal pattern as the spread widens into the fall.

Feeder cattle and calves were both steady to $5 higher for the week. Feeder cattle and calf receipts are increasing seasonally into the fall. Slaughter cows were steady for the week.

Corn trended lower again last week as the USDA's September Crop Production report showed an increase in yield of 4 bushels/acre over the August report, increasing the stocks to use ratio to 14.70 percent.

Check out today's Chart of the Day. For recent market news and analysis, visit CattleFax.com.

NCBA now Accepting Internship Applications for 2015 Cattle Industry Convention

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is accepting applications for internships during the 2015 Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 4-7, 2015. The deadline to submit an application is Oct. 6, 2014.

This year will mark the 117^th Cattle Industry Convention, which is the oldest and largest convention for the cattle industry. The convention and trade show create a unique, fun environment for cattle industry members to come together to network and create policy for the industry.

“This convention brings leaders from across the industry together to network and discuss issues important to the beef industry,” said NCBA Public Policy Analyst Mallory Gaines. “Along with helping to see the convention run smoothly, students will be provided time to maximize their opportunities to network and learn throughout the week.”

The annual Cattle Industry Convention boasts over 5,500 attendees and a trade show with more than 250 booths. Interns are offered a unique, behind-the-scenes experience of setting up the trade show, manning the NCBA Political Action Committee booth, assisting with the NCBA-PAC auction, helping members vote on NCBA policy, working with the media and helping to guide cattlemen and cattlewomen to convention events.

To apply, interested college juniors, seniors or graduate students should submit the convention internship application, a college transcript, two letters of recommendation and a resume to internship@beef.org. More information and the internship application are available on NCBA’s website.

Finding More Grazing Days

by Travis Meteer, U of I Beef Extension Specialist

The current cattle market can be distracting. Record high prices, while certainly a good thing, can leave many cattlemen in a state of awe and amazement. Instead of getting caught watching high prices this fall, your time will be better spent monitoring the cost side of your cattle business.

Cow-calf producers can significantly reduce costs by extending the grazing season and delaying feeding of purchased feeds. Common sense and research both tell us cattle are most profitable when they are harvesting their own feed. Allowing cattle to graze into late fall and early winter is crucial to reducing costs. Even with lowering commodity prices, grazing is still the cheapest way to feed cows. Stockpiled forages, cover crop forages, and grazing crop residue are all options for extending the grazing season.

Cool season forages, especially fescue, are excellent candidates for stockpiling. While fescue may garner a bad reputation for endophyte issues and poor production in the summer months, fall is a time to shine for fescue. Cool temperatures in the fall negate complications with elevated body temperatures when cattle are consuming endophyte infected fescue. Re-growth in the fall is primarily green leaf tissue and the plant is not putting on seed heads which are a feared, concentrated source of the endophyte.

The stockpiling process starts with designating pastures that will be used for stockpiling. Cattle need to be removed from the selected pastures in early to mid-August. Applying supplemental nitrogen in August has proven beneficial to yields. When pastures were allowed to stockpile until Dec. 1, applying 50 pounds of actual N per acre in early to mid-August can add approximately 25 pounds of DM per pound of N added or 1,250 pounds of DM per acre.

Grazing management will greatly influence the ability to utilize stockpiled forages. Strip grazing is the common and most recommended practice. Strip grazing will allow close to a 70% utilization of the available forage, a 30% improvement over continuous grazing. Stockpiling fescue for 90-100 days will typically yield approximately 2000 lbs. DM per acre. Assuming a 1400 lb. cow eats 3% her body weight in DM, the cow would eat 42 lbs. DM per day. Using strip grazing, an acre of stockpiled fescue could support a cow for 33 days. Adding 50 lbs. of N can gain an extra 21 days of grazing under the same management and stocking rate.  

Illinois is blessed with very fertile farmland. Higher land prices, soil health benefits, and the ability to grow more feed are incentives to add cover crops to a diversified farming operation. Using cover crops following cash crop production for added forage is one of the best opportunities for Illinois cattlemen to lower production costs. There are numerous options for farmers depending on their crop rotation.

A popular choice after corn silage or in idle wheat ground is seeding a mixture of oats and turnips. Two bushel of oats and 4 pounds of turnips per acre will give a nice stand and offer around three to four tons of DM per acre. Annual Ryegrass is another cover crop that needs to be planted in late summer. Yields can be two to four DM tons per acre. Annual Ryegrass will overwinter and will require good management in the spring to achieve termination of the stand. Oats and turnips will winterkill.

Cereal rye, triticale, and mixes including them are good options for producers looking to provide forage possibilities in the early spring. Many will chop and bag these forages prior to planting beans in the spring. Weather can make this challenging; however yields of up to 4 dry tons per acre can be accomplished. As with any crop there will be variation in success depending on seed choice, weather, and management. Start a discussion with your seed dealer and investigate your options for cover crops.

The cost of grazing cornstalks is low; first because the cows graze and harvest their own feed and second, because all costs to produce the plant for grain production are attributed to the row-crop operation. Even with the cost of a temporary fence (which many farmers already have) and water, grazing cornstalks is more economical than feeding hay.

Cattle eat the more digestible and higher protein portions first. Therefore, a good mineral is probably the only supplementation needed for the first month unless the herd includes fall-calving cows or stocker calves.

Grazing stalks can also have benefits for subsequent crops. Cows grazing cornstalks for 60 days will remove approximately 30 to 40 percent of the residue. Residue buildup has been a well-documented problem in many corn-on-corn fields with new hybrids. Cows deposit nutrients in the form of manure back on the field. As they graze, they reduce volunteer corn, considered a weed and a yield-robber in soybean fields.

Using an equation developed at the University of Nebraska, a field that averages 170 bushels per acre yields 2,430 pounds of leaf and husk. Only 50 percent of the 2,430 pounds is available for the animal; the rest is trampled or lost in weathering. Thus, 1,215 pounds of DM husk and leaf per acre are available as feed.

A 1400-pound cow consumes 1,050 pounds of DM per month. At 170 bushels an acre, approximately 1 acre of cornstalks are needed to feed the cow for 30 days. To feed the same cow on cornstalks for 60 days, 1.5 to 2 acres would be needed.

Producers focused on keeping costs low will be the most profitable in 2014. Those profits could be substantial, allowing for updates and further investment into the cattle operation. Historically, the cow-calf business has been a break-even business. Thus, continuing to monitor the cost side will be important. Illinois cattlemen have the opportunity to use stockpiled forages, cover crops, and crop residues to keep cost low to allow large profits in 2014. 

*Previously printed in Illinois Beef magazine

Webinar - CattleFax TRENDS+ Cow-Calf Webinar

Webinar - CattleFax TRENDS+ Cow-Calf Webinar
DATE: Wednesday, September 17, 2014
TIME: 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Mountain

The upcoming webinar will provide producers and industry leaders with a discussion on market factors affecting the cow-calf, stocker and backgrounding segments of the cattle industry this fall and winter. Elanco Animal Health is sponsoring the webinar - making it free for all cattle and beef producers to attend. To participate and access program details, producers and industry leaders simply need to register online.

CattleFax - Weekly Recap

The fed cattle market was not fully established in the North as of press time but the market tone was $8 to $10 higher for the week. On a dressed basis, cattle traded in a range of $248 to $252 and mostly $160 to $163 live. In the South, live cattle traded at $163, $8 higher than the previous week.

Boxed beef prices were modestly mixed for the week as Choice product closed higher and Selects closed lower, widening the spread. Feeder cattle were $2 to $10 higher for the week; calves were $4 to $10 higher against a limited number of receipts due to the extended holiday weekend. Slaughter cows were steady to $2 higher compared to last week.

Corn traded several cents lower last week as it broke out of its 6-week trading range to the downside, as record large crop expectations continue to apply downward pressure.

Check out today's Chart of the Day. For recent market news and analysis, visit CattleFax.com.

FREE BQA Certifications from Sept. 1-Oct. 31

For the third time, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) is supporting the checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program by sponsoring all online certifications this fall for producers who enroll from Sept. 1-Oct. 31.

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. BIVI will pick up the $25-$50 certification fee for beef or dairy producers who are interested in becoming certified or recertified during this period. Visit www.BQA.org/team to take advantage of the open certification period.

The BQA program is important to the cattle industry as it gives producers a set of best practices for producing a safe and high quality beef product. And for dairy producers, this offering is also beneficial as a large percentage of dairy calves and market cows make their way into the food chain.

The BQA certification modules are customized to fit the specific needs of each segment of the cattle industry – cow-calf, stocker, feedyard and dairy operations. The program covers best management practices such as proper handling and administration of vaccinations and other products, eliminating injection site blemishes, and better cattle-handling principles.

“One of the challenges that beef producers face is having all of their employees become BQA-certified,” says Dr. Jerry Woodruff, Professional Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. “Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica’s partnership with BQA helps offset some of those expenses, and we encourage producers and their employees to use the web-based training programs.”

More than 11,000 producers have taken advantage of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc.’s BQA certification partnership. Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc.’s partnership also includes financial support of the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University, which developed the certification module.

To become BQA certified, or learn more about the program, visit www.BQA.org/team.

2014 IJBA Jackpot Show Results

 Date: Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014

Location: Illinois State Fairgrounds

Judge: Kevin Rose, Illinois

Grand Champion Heifer

Champion Low % Simmental Heifer - Shown by Tyler Verbeck

Reserve Grand Champion Heifer

Champion Angus Heifer - Shown by Lauryn Mool

View all results

Thank you Bank of Springfield for sponsoring the IJBA Jackpot Show!

Disaster Funding Still Available for Illinois Cattlemen

After a dispiriting stretch of months and declining pasture and feed resources, things are finally looking up for cattlemen grazing in Illinois. But, it’s not too late to take advantage of the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). With an ongoing sign up, the program helps producers with livestock forage losses associated with drought conditions that were experienced beginning in 2012.

The 2014 Farm Bill makes the LFP a permanent program and provides retroactive authority to cover eligible losses back to Oct. 1, 2011. The LFP provides compensation to eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses for covered livestock on land used specifically for grazing. The grazing losses must be due to a qualifying drought condition during the normal grazing period for the county.

An eligible livestock producer must own or lease pasture physically located in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) or D3 (extreme drought) – almost all counties in Illinois fall under those categories expect for a few counties in the Chicagoland area. Livestock must have been grazed during a normal grazing period for the region and have been owned, purchased or entered into a contract to purchase during the 60 days prior to the beginning date of a qualifying drought.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is encouraging producers who have suffered eligible disaster-related losses to act to secure assistance by Sept. 30, 2014, as congressionally mandated payment reductions will take place for producers who have not acted before that date. Livestock producers that have experienced grazing losses since October 2011 and may be eligible for benefits, but have not yet contacted their local FSA office should do so as soon as possible.

The Budget Control Act passed by Congress in 2011 requires USDA to implement reductions of 7.3 percent to the LFP in the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, 2014. However, producers seeking LFP support who have scheduled appointments with their local FSA office before Oct. 1, even if the appointment occurs after Oct.1, will not see reductions in the amount of disaster relief they receive.

USDA is encouraging producers to register, request an appointment or begin a Livestock Forage Disaster Program application with their county FSA office before Oct. 1, 2014, to lock in the current zero percent sequestration rate. As an additional aid to qualified producers applying for LFP, the FSA has developed an online registration that enables farmers and ranchers to put their names on an electronic list before the deadline to avoid reductions in their disaster assistance. This is an alternative to visiting or contacting the county office. To place a name on the Livestock Forage Disaster Program list online, visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/disaster-register.

Producers who already contacted the county office and have an appointment scheduled need do nothing more.

“Almost every beef producer in Illinois that was grazing cattle weighing more than 500 pounds during the drought should be eligible for the LFP,” said Rick Graden, Illinois FSA Executive Officer. “Thus far, more than $2 billion has been paid to U.S. cattlemen through the LFP and, as a permanent program, there is still a chance for producers to receive assistance by the Jan. 30, 2015, application deadline.”

However, with the USDA's most recent announcement, producers need to act fast to reap the program's full benefits.

Bill Graff of Middletown manages owned and rented pasture ground across two counties and utilizes a mob grazing management system for his cow-calf operation. He started the application process for the LFP earlier this summer and was recently approved for payment. He was initially disappointed with the total amount of payment he received due to the carrying capacity numbers set in his region. However, he estimates that with the few hours he spent reviewing his records to collect the necessary application data and the one or two trips made to his county FSA office, the process to receive payment was virtually “pain free” and did not take a lot of time.

“I encourage any beef producer that thinks he might quality for the LFP to visit his county office and go through the process. The people at FSA are good people and want to make sure things get done right so they can get you the assistance you need,” Graff said.

A visit to your county FSA office with your herd inventory numbers and pasture acreage certified will allow staff to fill out and submit an application for assistance. If pasture has not been certified it’s not a problem – a Late Filed Crop Acreage Certification can be filed free of charge. Pasture certification is crucial in the program to determine an operation’s stocking rate. The grazing carrying capacity for a county is established by the Illinois State FSA Committee with assistance from Natural Resources Conservation Service and U of I Extension grazing information.

“I know there are acres out there that producers’ graze that are not considered part of crop land, but can be used to determine the amount of acreage being grazed. For example, if a producer has 100 head of cows on 40 acres of pasture the LFP payment will most likely be reduced for overgrazing. But, there are probably other areas being grazed like timber edges and creek banks that can add acreage for a higher payment,” Graden said.

Once the application is completed, an FSA county committee reviews the paperwork to verify that acreage and animal units correspond.

Joni Bucher of Marietta manages a cow-calf operation with a rotational grazing system under an EQIP contract and enrolled in LFP in May; shortly after the program was made available on Apr. 15. She was pleased with the results – especially thanks to the work she’s done with EQIP. With her pastures already certified through EQIP, Joni was able to prove that pasture conditions have improved since the drought and her operation’s carrying capacity was already outlined in her contract. Bucher went through calving and vaccination records to determine her herd inventory at the time drought status was declared in her county.

“Most beef producers are doing the right thing – taking care of their cattle and their land – and should take advantage of programs that offer assistance for the feed resources lost during the tough times of the drought. Be honest when filling out the application and the process should go smoothly,” Bucher said.

Graden said producers might have applied for assistance earlier this year and were denied due to baling hay on a pasture before grazing. FSA recognized the issue and eliminated that detail from the submission process, so producers should resubmit their application in this instance.

While the deadline isn’t until the end of January, Graden recommends visiting your county office before the end of September as the FSA work load will start increasing with the ARC PLC program.

“Scherrie Giamanco, Illinois FSA State Executive Director appreciates the patience of livestock producers in Illinois with the LFP and encourages cattlemen to take advantage of assistance,” Graden said.

With specific questions about the program, producers should contact their county FSA office.