Ag News and Views: December 1998

There are many questions we need to ask ourselves as we plan for the coming year. At the top of the list is why our landscape plants didn't survive as well as we wanted them too. Did we apply enough moisture? Did we enable the soil to absorb water into the root area of the plants? Did we mulch around the plants to conserve the moisture we did apply?

A deer management association (or coop) is simply a group of land managers in a region who share common deer management goals and make a decision to cooperatively manage their shared deer herd. Goals such as improving the buck age structure, buck:doe ratio, fawn crop, or altering deer density are difficult or impossible to achieve on small acreages without a deer fence. Developing a common strategy over larger acreages is much more effective.

The lack of rain, high temperatures, grasshoppers and armyworms had an enormous detrimental effect on any kind of forage and crop production. Many drought management strategies were discussed throughout the summer in an effort for cattlemen to maintain livestock numbers. One of the strategies implemented on the Noble Research Institute Red River Demonstration and Research Farm was to early wean the spring born calves on one of the cowherds.

There are probably many producers who are under financial strain because of drought, high hay cost, low cattle prices and low crop prices. Our advice would be to address your problem head-on. Admit you need help and go get it. If you need help from us, please call and let us know.

By the time you read this many of you will have realized the ryegrass or small grain you planted in August, September or October did not produce much forage. There were many reasons such as: it came up and was killed by excessive heat, the grasshoppers ate it or the army worms killed it. Some of you replanted in late October or waited until late October to plant the first time.

Fall is the time of year that we see a lot of activity when it comes to cattle movements and management. Calves are weaned and/or sold, but they usually find a new home that doesn't include "Momma." Perhaps it is prudent to review some management factors related to this change.

Ryegrasses are productive, high quality cool season forages that are either perennial or annual in their growth. The ability of annual ryegrass to reseed itself is evident as we drive down the roads or see it in pastures that have not been recently seeded. Annual ryegrass can be managed to reseed under grazing with proper management.

This question is music to a plant breeder's ears. It shows that the producer is aware that cultivar choice is important to the success of a farming or ranching operation. A good starting point is to first determine what you, the producer, need to accomplish.