News
Cattle at the Crossroads
Random thoughts while wondering who will be the cattle-persons of the 21st century?
Composite Breeds and Composite Crossbreeding
Though the idea behind composite breeding systems has been around for decades, only recently has the practice attracted interest within the beef industry. The reason for this interest is simple. Composite crossbreeding is a functional, low-management alternative to traditional crossbreeding techniques.
Alternative Agriculture
During the eighties, the buzz word we all heard a lot was alternative agriculture. Horticultural crops, particularly vegetables or "truck crops" gained the most attention. I was a horticulture student at OSU in the mid-eighties and I rode that wave of alternative ag and all that it promised.
The Noble Research Institute Retained Ownership Program
The program was initiated in November as a pilot project to evaluate the feasibility of a multi-owner system. The program was designed to include both wheat pasture and feedlot phases.
Will Nitrogen Applications Affect the Distribution of Bermudagrass Forage Production?
We often discuss bermudagrass as being a very "short season" forage plant but I did not realize how short it can be until I reviewed some yield data.
Forage Flow
It's time for you to begin estimating your forage supply/demand for the livestock you wish to support this year on warm-season forages.
Aging White-Tailed Deer
The most widely used and accepted technique of aging deer is based on tooth replacement and tooth wear associated with the lower jawbone. The technique was first described in 1949. Since that time, very little work has been reported evaluating the technique using free-ranging, known-age deer.
Ladybug Invasion
There is a new bug in town. You probably know that already, it is hard not to notice a few thousand of them in your home. What you may not know is that this is a different Lady Beetle than you have seen before.
How Many Deer Are Too Many?
Without records, most land managers are unable to tell. Livestock managers are trained to monitor forage availability and body condition of their herd. Except in extreme cases, deer forage conditions are subtle, and body condition observations are limited to the check station.
Indicator Plants
Lanceleaf ragweed, Western ragweed, and Annual broomweed are the most frequent forbs that we have to deal with in pasture management. We should look on the presence of high populations of these plants in our pastures as indicators that something is not right in the management of our forage resource.