Spring is just busier and more crowded! 

Managing the Spring rush is associated with calving season on beef cattle operations with spring calving herds.  Many dairy farms will notice a seasonal increase in calving during the spring as well.  Grazing dairies will calve in the spring to match the nutrient demand with the available forage.  Traditional confinement operations often see an increase in spring calving for two reasons.  Many operations do not calve first calf heifers in the coldest winter months. Increased spring calving of mature cows is often a result of heat stress.  Cows that fail to conceive due to the heat of July and August will often become pregnant in September.  These cows will enter the dry cow pens starting in March with subsequent calving in April through June.  The net result is often an overcrowded situation in the dry cow, pre-fresh and fresh pens.  Overcrowding in these pens leads to increased fresh cow problems after calving, most notably ketosis and uterine infections.

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As a popular pizza chain states, better ingredients make all the difference. The same can be said for our cattle. We need to give them the proper nutritional building blocks to allow them to perform as desired.

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June is a busy month with many activities that will allow us to provide the general public a little more access to our cattle operations.  June is Dairy Month with many activities such as Dairy Breakfast and Farm and City Days and for beef operations there are farm tours and breed association events.  These are wonderful activities to highlight the care and dedication that is given to our animals.  The interest of the general population in THEIR food supply is at an all-time high.  Unfortunately, the availability of misleading information and outright deceptive information about production agriculture and livestock production is also very abundant.  In addition, I take issue with advertising by some in the feed and food industry which contributes to the consumer’s confusion by implying that one a product is more wholesome or safer than another that is produced by a different production processes.    I challenge you to take the opportunity to open the door a little wider to be even more transparent on your management practices.  We need this to continue to gain the trust and support of the general population.  If we fail to explain the technology we use, we run the risk of losing access to that technology.

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As we approach the hot summer months, more and more producers are dealing with the nuisance of pinkeye. Pinkeye is a highly infectious bacterial disease. Although pinkeye is nonfatal, it costs cattle producers over $150 million per year. These expenses result from decreased weight gain, reduced milk production and treatment costs. Additionally, infected animals are worth less at sale time. Pinkeye is second only to scours/diarrhea in terms of diseases affecting calves.

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Weather has an enormous impact on our industry; everything from precipitation concerns to temperature extremes affecting our crops and livestock.  This past winter was one for the record books, now it is time to prepare for warmer temperatures and reduce the impact of heat stress on your dairy and feedlot cattle.  We now have a better understanding of the impact that brief periods of low rumen pH can have on animal performance.  Periods of low rumen pH can result in reduced rumen function, death of rumen bacteria and systemic endotoxemia.

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