Ag News and Views: October 1996

October, 1996 Table of Contents News & Views Archive Issues

Economics
Retaining Ownership – Is It For You? by Steve Swigert
Retained ownership involves the participation in the next sector of the cattle production. In other words, if you are a cow-calf producer, you retain ownership in your cattle through the stocker phase and if you are stocker operator, you retain ownership in the feedlot phase.

Forage
How Much Grass Have I Got? by Ron Mitchell
October is a good month to take a little stroll through the pastures and get a handle on how much grass there is in front of the cows. October marks the beginning of autumn when our warm season grasses quit growing, and the grass on hand is what the cows are going to winter on.

From the Director
New Cooperator Orientation Program by Jim Schaffer
Recently, with a large influx of people requesting Noble Foundation assistance, we have piloted a new cooperator orientation program to help new cooperators better understand our abilities and capabilities.

Horticulture
Pumpkin Time! by Sean Maher
The days are getting shorter and Fall is in the air. It's Pumpkin Time. I've been growing about 10 acres of pumpkins for several years now and many people are quite curious about growing the crop; so, in this issue I will include a few pumpkin pointers.

Livestock
Winter Pasture Utilization As A Protein Supplement by Jim Pumphrey
Winter pasture can be used as a protein supplement for wintering beef cows when proper grazing management is used. A cow will consume up to ten times her protein requirement when allowed to graze full time.

Soils
Nitrogen Status of Winter Pasture by Scott Landgraf
By taking soil samples during the fallow period, soil nitrate nitrogen levels can be appraised with a great degree of confidence. Due to the instability of soil nitrogen, even the residual levels identified by soil test often change before plants utilize the applied or mineralized nitrogen.

Wildlife
How Do You Measure the Success of Your Deer Season? by Grant Huggins
The Boone and Crockett score of your biggest buck? The pounds of venison you put in the freezer? The number of deer you harvested? The number of days you spent hunting? There are probably as many answers as there are hunters.