– Garth Ruff, Field Specialist, Beef Cattle, OSU Extension (originally published in the Ohio Farmer) Growing Demand While 2020 has certainly been a challenging year for agriculture and especially those in the livestock business. However, direct to consumer meat sales have been a bright spot as a result of increased demand. Although a small percentage [...]

Think outside the box about forage management by considering alternative grazing and hay strategies. In this episode of Forage Focus, OSU Extension Educator Christine Gelley addresses how creating alternative forage plans can strengthen your operation. Reducing days livestock consume stored feed and increasing farm flexibility helps build resiliency in times of uncertainty and change. Today, [...]

Last week OSU Extension Educator Clifton Martin had the opportunity to visit with Garth Ruff about Garth’s recent hiring as the OSU Extension Beef Specialist and current trends in the Beef Industry. During that conversation they covered trends in Ohio, the role of the OSU Extension Beef Specialist, opportunities for outreach, the status of Beef [...]

– Dr. Michelle Arnold, UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Traditionally, many KY beef producers with winter/spring born feeder calves market through Special Graded Feeder Calf Sales held in the fall. At these sales, feeder cattle are graded according to the USDA Feeder Cattle Grading Standards, are weighed and sorted into groups (load lots of 48,000-50,000 lbs) [...]

– Dr. Andrew Griffith, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Tennessee FED CATTLE: Fed cattle traded $2 to $3 higher compared to last week on a live basis. Prices on a live basis were primarily $102 to $106 while dressed prices were mainly $162 to $164. The 5-area weighted average prices [...]

– David P. Anderson, Professor and Extension Economist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Imports of feeder cattle from Mexico usually are reported with interest because ranchers and feeders in the U.S. import more than 1 million head per year, on average. The U.S. also exports cattle to Mexico, but in much smaller numbers. In recent [...]

Want to learn more about improving your land and livestock through grazing and forages? Mark your calendar for the following talks at this year’s virtual Farm Science Review, Sept. 22–24, all of them organized by the Gwynne Conservation Area. Visit the Farm Science Review site at fsr.osu.edu to see the complete FSR virtual schedule Find the complete schedule, and [...]

– Katie VanValin, Assistant Extension Professor, University of Kentucky The classic definition of stress according to Hans Selye is, “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”. Dr. Selye was an endocrinologist by training and is largely regarded as the grandfather of the study of stress. By any definition though, I think [...]

In this Grazing Management Minute, the focus turns to the benefit of utilizing native warm season grasses in a comprehensive forage management plan for Ohio livestock producers.

– Mark Loux, OSU Extension Weed Specialist If you saw this yellow weed in your fields last spring, the time to control it and other winter annuals for next year is here yet this fall! Some hay producers have been unpleasantly surprised in the past when cressleaf groundsel infestations became evident in their hay fields [...]