Rancher Roundtable scheduled for February 20, 2019 at Cut Bank Voting Center

 Ranchers are invited to attend the Rancher Roundtable on Wednesday, February 20 at the   The event is free to the public, refreshments will be provided, and the program will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Cut Bank Voting Center 

 (913 E. Railroad, Cut Bank, MT).

Dr. Jeff Mosley, Montana State University Extension range specialist, will cover proper spring grazing management to manage plant health and livestock performance, and opportunities for early spring grazing.  Dr. Mosley has degrees in Range Science from Montana State University, University of Idaho, and Texas Tech University and has completed extensive research regarding grazing management of livestock and wildlife and using targeted livestock grazing to suppress invasive plants such as spotted knapweed and sulfur cinquefoil.

Kari Lewis, Montana State University Extension Agent for Glacier county, will share cowherd nutrition for the late gestation and early lactation periods to meet the cow’s needs for breed back and to support a growing calf.  Calf care management to increase calf viability and health will be covered as well.

A rancher roundtable is scheduled for February 20 in Cut Bank
at the Cut Bank Voting Center, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Photo by Kari Lewis.

John Steuber, State Director of USDA Wildlife Services will wrap up the day with a presentation on Predatory Animal Damage Management.  Steuber will explain the process of petitioning for a per capita fee for predatory animal control within Glacier county, if producers desire.  Currently, 29 Montana counties have cattle petitions in place, and 49 Montana counties (including Glacier County) have sheep petitions in effect.   A cattle petition would be a $1/head fee used to provide predator damage management through the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Wildlife Services to Glacier County producers via hunting and trapping of livestock depredating coyotes, bears, mountain lions, wolves, etc.  With declining federal funding, cattle petitions allow Wildlife Services to support employees (hunter/trapper), equipment, helicopter flying time, etc. and provide a significant presence within the county.  If Glacier county producers desired the program, producer signatures representing 51% of the cattle on the county tax rolls (approximately 13,500 head) would be needed for the petition will go into effect.  Producers are strongly encouraged to attend to learn more about the predatory animal control program. 

Please contact Kari Lewis, Glacier county agent, with any questions regarding the program at (406) 873-2239 or kari.lewis@montana.edu. 

Pre-Calving Preparations

Kari Lewis
With this week’s snowstorm and calving on the horizon, I’ve been thinking calving preparations.  I

know many folks are already underway, with lots more to start in the next month or so.  Today I’ll share some reminders of things to check on before calving starts.

·         Clean, well bedded pens - If you have a calving shed you will potentially be using, make sure the pens are cleaned with fresh straw.  Having clean pens to calve in is crucial to reducing disease transmission and giving calves a healthier start to their life. 

·         For the potential calving problems, locate and clean the calf chains and calf puller, and make sure you have gloves, obstetrical lube, disinfectant, buckets, halters, and ropes handy.  Along these lines, having the number for the vet in your phone or somewhere easy to find is also a good idea!

·         Lighting - Do you have enough flashlights in good working order, and are outside flood lights in good condition, and are there replacement bulbs around if needed?

·         For the calf that is slow to start nursing or for the twin that is bound to come, do you have a tube feeder, milk bottle, colostrum replacer, and fresh milk replacer on hand?  If you have leftover supplies from last year, check the expiration date to see if you need to update your inventory.

o   When purchasing colostrum replacer, make sure it is a replacer, and not a colostrum supplement.  Colostrum supplements do not contain sufficient quantities of antibodies to raise the blood immunoglobin level in calves beyond what average quality colostrum will do. Colostrum replacers contains greater levels of immunoglobins and other nutrients and provides an effective, convenient method of providing passive immunity to calves when maternal colostrum is not available.

·         For identification - do you have enough ear tags and markers ready?  Do you have a calving book available to record calves born in?  If not, your local Extension office may still have a few of the IRM red books available.

·         Check your facilities.  Are pens, alleys, and head catches in working order?  Do you need to move panels around or set up additional pens?  Do gates swing when they should and have a working chain to latch for when they shouldn’t swing? 

·         Wind protection - Are there boards in your windbreaks that need to be replaced?  Are calf shelters in good condition?  A clean, dry environment will go a long ways towards creating calving success.  A windbreak can even be as simple as stacking straw bales in a pasture to allow cattle a place to get out of the wind.

·         For moving calves, if you use a calf sled, is it located and is it clean?

·         Do you have a plan for warming up chilled calves?  If you have a calf warmer, is it in working condition?  Is the needed extension cord with it? 

The challenges that comes with trying to find equipment when it’s cold and calves are on the way only adds to the frustration.  I hope you’ll take some time now to help have a successful and organized calving season!

Diagnose cowherd pregnancy now for extra money in the pocket later

Kari Lewis, MSU Extension - Glacier County

It’s finally August, which means that on the cow-calf side, I’m looking forward to fall cow work, when the days are cooler and it’s time to pre-condition calves and preg-test cows.  Recently, yearling prices have really taken off, with many dry yearling heifers selling in the $1.20 to $1.40/lb. range, which can easily create $1,100 to $1,200 yearlings.  This may be a valuable time to consider early pregnancy diagnosis on those yearling heifers in order to capitalize on the current prices.

                Early pregnancy diagnosis can create additional marketing options on both the yearling heifer and cow side.  Knowing which heifers or cows are open allows you to sell open heifers now when they’ll bring top dollar, and to wean calves early from the open cows, allowing cows to be marketed early in the year saving forage during a drought as well.  Iowa State Extension summarized the price of cull cows out of Sioux Falls, SD from 2005 to 2014, and there was a $11/cwt advantage to selling cows in August versus November.  On a 1,300-pound cow, that extra $11/cwt equates to nearly an additional $145/head, simply by targeting an earlier marketing window on those dry cows. 

Data from Iowa State Extension article, 'Seasonal Price Patterns' by Lee Schulz, Extension Economist, available at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/livestock/html/b2-19.html.  Prices for utility cows are typically greatest in the summer months, thus early pregnancy detection to market open cows in a more favorable market environment is especially attractive.  

                In addition, early pregnancy detection also allows cows to be sorted into calving groups, with later calving cows not needing as high quality of nutrition as the earlier calving cows.  Similarly, it always surprises me when I hear of folks who don’t pregnancy test, as that means they end up feeding dry cows all winter long, when that $200 in winter feeding costs could be going to cows that will instead produce a calf.  Even if the plan is to add extra weight and condition on to dry cows before they are sold, that can be done in a much more economical manner than feeding the dry cows the same ration as pregnant cows.  For less than $5/head, a pregnancy diagnosis can help sort out dry cows versus using hay and supplement on cows that won’t produce a calf. 

Early pregnancy detection in yearling heifers and cows can
allow producers to capitalize on a better market, and save grass
for bred cows.  Photo by Kari Lewis.

                Rectal palpation is the traditional pregnancy detection method, which allows detection of pregnancy by as early as 35 to 40 days pregnancy.  Experienced veterinarians can estimate pregnancy stage with relative accuracy between 30 to 100 days pregnant. 

                Ultrasound can detect pregnancy earlier than palpation, as early as three to four weeks after the heifer or cow has been bred.  In addition, ultrasound can provide additional information such as incidence of twins and calf sex, which rectal palpation cannot do.  From approximately day 55 to day 70, ultrasound can be used to detect calf sex, which can be valuable information if choosing to market a group of heifers or cows, and can advertise them as carrying all bull calves or all heifer calves. 

                Given current yearling prices and knowing traditional cull cow market price patterns, now is the time to consider early pregnancy diagnosis in your cowherd.