Trending Headlines: How to improve returns on your calves; PLUS: Dealing with environmental idiots
What can you do now to make your calves more market friendly? That and more awaits you in this week's Trending Headlines.
How to improve returns on calves Even in drought, spring is the season for calves to be born, and by now, most of the calf crop is on the ground. Looking at the market, it is difficult to decide what you need to do versus what you can afford, says Joe Paschal, Texas AgriLife Extension beef specialist. Although calf prices are down now, projections are that calf prices will rally a little in the fall and winter – when these spring calves are weaned and marketed – mainly as a reflection of slightly smaller calf crop. There will still be plenty of calves for buyers to choose so producers should consider management practices that improve both the price and total return on their calves. Click or tap here for Paschal’s advice on how to make your calves buyer-friendly.
How to practice emotional self-care Right now, many of us are living somewhere we never wanted to be. Our comfortable home at the corner of Familiar and Reliable has been moved — and we’re pretty sure we don’t like this new address at the intersection of Uncertainty and Worry. As we shift our thinking to longer-term impacts of this pandemic, it’s important to remember the things that haven’t changed. Many of the same habits and techniques that apply to shorter-term stress apply equally to longer term concerns. Self-care becomes even more critical. Thankfully, although stress can have a cumulative negative effect on the mind and body, we can manage much of it through intentional choices. Click or tap here for more.
Are ranchers dealing with environmental idiots? Have large segments of our society gone insane? Likely this is the case or at least they are suffering from a lack of knowledge and understanding. Presently it seems that a bunch of supposedly educated people have become idiots. The word idiot means “to be without knowledge.” As an example, there are a lot of people of power who are campaigning for the removal of livestock from the North American continent. These people are idiots, meaning they are without knowledge, and their ignorance of the potential benefits from correctly managed livestock is blatant, reports Beef Producer. Click or tap here for more on environmental idiocy.
Keep your vaccines cool Keeping modified-live vaccines at the temperature prescribed by the label is a key factor in ensuring you’re really vaccinating your cattle and not shooting blanks. “Use a cooler with cold packs while transporting and while vaccinating to keep the vaccine at the recommended temperature and also to minimize exposure to sunlight,” encourages Taylor Grussing and Tracey Erickson, South Dakota State University Extension. “It’s our job to keep as much of that vaccine effectiveness as possible until we actually get it injected into the animal that is going to need it for disease protection,” says Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University emeritus Extension animal scientist. Selk says most of the vaccines used in the cattle industry require being stored at a temperature between 35 degrees and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Click or tap here for more.
The value of reproduction In cow-calf operations, reproductive rate is the foundational productive function of the enterprise. Obviously, if cows do not become pregnant, then no calves are produced for revenue generation the following year. Revenue from culled cows is not a result of production; it is the liquidation of an asset that must be replaced (usually at a higher price), if production is to continue. It is intuitive that improvements in reproductive success, or the prevention of reproductive failure, drive cow-calf enterprise productivity. Profitability, however, is not solely driven by gross revenue or productivity. The incremental costs of increasing production must be considered if managers are to successfully allocate resources to increase profitability. In other words, improving reproductive rate at all costs is not likely to be a solution, according to the King Ranch Insitute for Ranch Management. Learn more here.
What’s up with the beef market? Resumption of production at some previously closed beef plants helped increase production by about 21 million pounds last week compared to the previous week, but supplies were still 165 million pounds or 31% lower than the previous year. In the last five weeks, beef production in the U.S. is down 687 million pounds (carcass wt. basis) than the same period a year ago. On a retail weight basis, the decline in output is the equivalent of 481 million pounds of beef or 12,000 full truckloads of product, according to the Daily Livestock Report. The Choice cutout last week was $441.53 per cwt, 98% higher than a year ago. By the end of the week, the cutout had climbed over $460. How’s the consumer dealing with beef prices that are double year ago levels? We do not know yet since most consumers have not seen that type of inflation in the retail meat case. Click here for more.
What’s up with the beef market? Resumption of production at some previously closed beef plants helped increase production by about 21 million pounds last week compared to the previous week, but supplies were still 165 million pounds or 31% lower than the previous year. In the last five weeks, beef production in the U.S. is down 687 million pounds (carcass wt. basis) than the same period a year ago. On a retail weight basis, the decline in output is the equivalent of 481 million pounds of beef or 12,000 full truckloads of product, according to the Daily Livestock Report. The Choice cutout last week was $441.53 per cwt, 98% higher than a year ago. By the end of the week, the cutout had climbed over $460. How’s the consumer dealing with beef prices that are double year ago levels? We do not know yet since most consumers have not seen that type of inflation in the retail meat case. Click here for more.
What can you do now to make your calves more market friendly? That and more awaits you in this week's Trending Headlines.
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