From the Barns: Reaping the benefits

Heat, humidity and moisture — we have had plenty of that this past month. This is one of the few years you will ever see it this green into August. That’s good for pasture and crops, but on the downside, these hot and humid days are very stressful on the cattle. Any stock that has chronic lung problems just can’t take this kind of weather, so we have seen some mortality associated with that. Overall, most of the cattle are doing well and handling it the best they can. As mentioned before, it is imperative that all cattle in these conditions in this part of the country have access to shade.

We did finally get the remainder of the sorghum sudangrass fertilized and with these growing conditions it seems to be thriving. With these nearly 80 acres and another 40 acres of mostly crabgrass and other summer grass and clover, we are able to run and rotationally graze a large number of animal units. Nearly 100 cow/calf pairs, 40 fall calving bred heifers and 30 fall bred cows are reaping the benefits of it all.

This summer I believe the weeds are worse than normal, probably due to the aforementioned conditions. Dad is working with a local custom sprayer to nip these weeds in the bud. Different pastures are requiring different treatments and they are working to address these needs appropriately. This past week, they sprayed 100 acres and you can already see the kill taking effect. This coming week, they are going to hit another 100.

We did get three more loads of fat cattle shipped these past few weeks and looks like two more loads in August. Quality and yield grades continue to do well and I continue to be amazed and cautious about the dollars these fat cattle are bringing. We haven’t placed any new cattle lately and would like to see this heat abate some before we do, but as we get closer to fall, it will be time to start putting some new stock in. We are going to early wean some calves off of first calf heifers in the next week or two. A couple of Saturdays ago, we gave this group of calves their preweaning vaccinations so, hopefully, we are positioning them for a strong immune system.

The feeders we brought in five to six weeks ago are doing relatively well, despite the heat. As with any group, there are some poor-doers and some mortality, but overall I am fairly satisfied with the health, condition and intakes of these cattle. The cutting bulls that came at that time we managed to get castrated. Waited until they got their feet under them and were eating well and looking better. So, at three to four weeks after arrival, we had them prepped and ready as best we could. For the most part, they came out of that procedure pretty well and, hopefully, their best times are ahead of them.

In mid-September, we will be the southern Illinois host for a two-day workshop sponsored by the Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition. We look forward to being a part of that event, so be looking forward to more information coming forth that the group will be putting out. Hope to see you for that important meeting!