Tag Archives: Livestock

Continued Drought Concerning for Northwest Georgia Livestock Producers

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Villanow, GA |

Here in Walker County, it’s hard to believe that things are better than they were just a couple of weeks ago, as they went almost three whole months with just a fraction of an inch of rain in what’s called an exceptional drought – the worst level there is and was even designated by the USDA as one of the eleven natural disaster counties in the region. It’s something that’s of course been a concern to most everyone, but to cattle producers like Brian Hart, the concern is very much still there.

“This year, our rainfall was perfectly normal until the last week of August and the last week of August it basically quit raining. This area has been in a drought for all of September, all of October, all of November and starting into December. We have had some rains the last part of November and some rains early December and rain forecasted this weekend, which is hopeful, but it’s just been a terribly, terribly dry time for those months and it affected our Fall grazing. We really didn’t know yet how it’s going to affect our hay crop next year,” says Brian Hart, Owner of Red Barn Farm.

As you can tell, most, if not all of the forage is long gone into dormancy, which has forced Brian to start feeding hay early this year.

“We typically graze our fescue pastures up until mid-November, early December with good rain and we don’t put up that much hay, but our hay consumption this year has been extremely high since really about the middle of September because there has been no grass, as you could see from looking in the fields there. It’s just it’s really dried up. We do have some fields we haven’t grazed yet that look decent, but it’s certainly affected our hay consumption. We’ve probably fed an additional hundred rolls of hay already this year that we normally do not feed,” says Hart.

Of course having to start feeding hay earlier than expected has caused his hay stocks to be depleted much faster than normal, which has caused him to have to purchase more hay to make sure they have enough to last them through the Winter.

“We’ve actually purchased some hay just to make sure we have enough. I think we have enough. A lot of it depends on what the grass does when it does start raining, because that’s what nobody knows. If it starts raining normally in December, we don’t know what the grass is going to do behind that rain, so we have bought an additional 150 rolls of hay that we’re going to feed if needed,” says Hart.

One thing that’s concerning to Hart is the long-term effect on his herd, as he relies on Winter grazing to help maintain his cattle’s weight, but without it, he’s afraid they may come up short when it’s time to sell.

“In the calf business like we’re in, we typically wean off 650-700 pound calves every spring along the May or June time frame. We don’t know what those weights are going to be because of the shortage of grass. Now we’ve got plenty of hay to feed them, but they’ll gain a lot better if they had some grass to go with it so that’s another way that it very easily could affect us,” says Hart.

Drought conditions have lessened in the last couple of weeks, but most of the Northwest Georgia area remains in severe drought conditions and it’s unclear when those conditions will ease up.

By: John Holcomb

Fighting Foreign Animal Diseases in the U.S.

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Jekyll Island, GA |

African Swine Fever, Mad Cow Disease, Foot and Mouth Disease; these are just a few of the many diseases that are capable of endangering our nation’s food supply and is the reason why attendees at the annual Georgia Farm Bureau Convention got to hear from experts on just how dangerous these diseases can be to the livestock industry – a threat that has increased as the world becomes smaller and moves faster.

“The threat level varies depending on the regions that are affected with the disease. But with our changing world, with increasing commodity exchange, our concern is ever heightened because of the speed of commerce and the different modes in which these diseases are transmitted,” says Marcus Webster, Associate State Veterinarian for the Georgia Department of Agriculture. “We used to live in a day where things were much slower and we could take our time to trace movements. In today’s world, with everything moving so fast, I would say that our concern is growing more.”

According to Webster, being proactive is key, which is why he says it’s important that livestock producers stay in the know and always practice bio-security measures on their operations.

“Becoming familiar, doing some investigation either with the Department of AG, Extension Agents on some diseases that are of concern for us, both nationally and internationally; that’s one step. Also, getting some information, education on biosecurity, which is highly important. Staying tuned in with other producers, having open discussions at meetings such as any animal commodity group. Having that as an ongoing conversation. So, education, understanding the disease threats to your particular species, and also biosecurity, which is going to be paramount in any situation because good biosecurity can ward off the most common things, whether it’s something that’s in the United States and pretty much common versus a foreign animal disease,” says Webster.

Webster says another important tool is traceability, as he says electronic ID tags can be of great help if an animal disease outbreak ever occurs as he says they would be able to track the animal’s footprints and isolate the threat much faster than ever before.

“When it comes to putting that tool in emergency response, it lets us know as well as a producer, if I have an animal that was exposed to a particular disease, I can look at that group, see where it went out; trace that group out and back to make sure that we’ve mitigated any threat both in that location and the animals moving forward to where their destination is or back to their origin where they came from to secure our food supply,” says Webster.

By: John Holcomb

Conference Provides Valuable Information to Livestock Producers

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OCILLA, GA – As the old saying goes, you get out what you put in. And that’s no for different for livestock producers as they make sure to feed their animals the highest quality products available to insure excellent returns. That’s why attending events like the annual forage conference is so important, as it gives them valuable information for the upcoming year.

“You’re making an investment. You’re making an investment in time and your money on the farms. So, make an investment to learn what you can from the research data so that the decisions you make, the effort, time, and money you put out on the farm is going to give you the best results you can have,” says Richard Barrett, Manager of the Jimmy Carter Plant Materials Center.

To get those results, it’s important to be aware of the biggest problems to be on the lookout for. And this year, that would be the Bermuda grass stem maggot, which feeds on the grass, causing damage and a lack of green color. It’s a situation that should be monitored very closely.

Dennis Hancock, UGA Forage Specialist says, “the primary thing is to be out looking for it in late June, July in particular. What we’re finding is that if you’re in far South Georgia or into Florida, it can start showing up a little earlier than that, but generally speaking, we don’t really start seeing it doing a lot of damage until June. It’s become such a major pest and our estimates are that it’s costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million a year just in Georgia.”

Choosing the right cover crop is also essential, as it will increase the number of grazing days for the cattleman. And fortunately, there are a number of quality options to choose from.

“We really don’t have one plant that can do it all for us. So, we have to look at the warm season and the cool season separately. We have some really good, productive perennial forages. The idea is really taking these annually planted forages and being able to fill in the gaps left around the perennials that are the mainstay and foundation of our grazing program. It’s not as simple as there’s one, best plant for every situation. But we have a lot of choices. We have a lot of good choices. We just need to understand what it is we are trying to get back,” Richard explains.

And with spring right around the corner, it’s time for farmers to start thinking about how to prepare their pastures.

“Fertilizer prices are actually pretty decent right now for us, better than they’ve been in a while. And so, one of the things I think we really need to start looking at closely is potassium nutrition in particular,” advises Hancock.

And that could help later in the season, as farmers prepare for what is expected to be a dry year.

Hancock says, “one of the big things that we can do there is to look at ways to stimulate root development. And one of the primary ways we do that is with maintaining a good soil pH. So, that allows that root too fully develop through this profile. But then again, phosphorus and pot ash are extremely important for root development too.”

However, just like any other year, the biggest advice given is to cut your forage at the right time to maximize both quality and yield.

Hancock stresses, “the timing of cutting is the absolute number one most important thing. Of all the factors that affect forage quality, plant maturity is the number one factor. So, in the case of Bermuda grass, if we’re cutting reliably on a four to five week cutting interval, then we’re going to be optimizing the quality in general.”

By: Damon Jones