Pecan phylloxera is an insect that can cause significant damage if ignored or treated incorrectly in pecan orchards. Phylloxera can attack shoots, leaves and fruit of pecan trees. Due to the life cycle of phylloxera, timing is very important to treating the infestation. Once you see galls, it is already too late to stop the infestation.
A replacement heifer represents the most costly improvement in a herd’s genetics. Some of the more important influencers that are critical to retaining these genetics over time include development, conceiving early in the breeding season, calving ease and maintaining good body condition prior to breeding, especially between 2 and 5 years of age when the heifer is still growing. For this article, I want to focus on development and conceiving early in the breeding season.
Drought conditions cause extreme stress on pecan trees. Water is critical for tree survival and nut production, and is involved in all processes within the trees, ranging from nutrient transportation to the production of leaves and fruit. It is important for producers to understand the effects of drought and how pecan trees cope with the stress it brings.
When drought depletes our pastures, the cost of hay can sky-rocket and making full use of your hay becomes increasingly important. In these times, one factor to consider is the type of hay feeder you use.
During and after drought, most producers try to survive the winter by stretching forage and feed resources. This can be accomplished with careful thought and consultation with a nutritionist to ensure that each cow’s nutrient requirements are still being met for the stage of production it is in. If corners are cut to save money now, it can have long lasting repercussions.
The balance sheet is a document that lists the value of all assets owned and all liabilities owed by an entity at a particular point in time. It is also referred to as a financial statement, a statement of equity and a net worth statement.
When buying land for cattle production, there are some unique characteristics to consider before signing a contract. These characteristics include: stocking rate, forage quality and type, soil type and fertility, terrain and slope of the land, water sources in each pasture, number of pastures and traps, working pen availability and condition, fence condition and type, and other infrastructure (overhead bins, interior roads, etc.) availability and condition.
Body Condition Score (BCS) is a useful tool for assessing the energy status of an animal. BCS should be assessed at calving, mid-lactation and mid-late gestation.
There are many variables to consider when deciding if cover crops fit into a cropping system. For the purposes of this article, a cover crop is defined as a crop grown between cash crops with the primary intent of noncash benefits, such as soil heath, erosion control, weed suppression, etc. Following are three topic areas relative to cover crops that are discussed frequently among Noble Research Institute consultants.
Cover crops span a diverse array of plant types and species, and they can be used at various times of the year in the Southern Great Plains. For the sake of simplicity, we will group them by warm-season and cool-season. Typically, cool-season cover crops are planted in the fall on crop fields or overseeded into dormant warm-season perennial grass pastures. Warm-season cover crops are usually planted in the spring on crop fields. In Oklahoma and Texas, they can also be planted in late summer for fall growth prior to a killing frost. We have experimented with growing cover crops in various environments in the Ardmore, Oklahoma, area over the past several years. Following are some of our observations.
