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Veterinarian Dr. Eric Wynn administers vaccines as part of a total herd health program. Bovine Respiratory Disease continues to be an issue.
Cow-calf producers have embraced management strategies that make their livestock a better value to the U.S. beef cattle industry, but Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) continues to be an area where improvement is needed.
“Better BRD control is going to require an industry-wide effort that focuses on animal health, starting with cow-calf producers,” said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist and holder of the university’s Charles A. Breedlove Endowed Professorship in Agribusiness. “Unfortunately, a misalignment of costs and benefits across production sectors is serving as a roadblock. We call that a market failure.”
An Oklahoma State University Extension agricultural policy expert is recommending producers be patient while considering whether to change or maintain Agriculture Risk Coverage or Price Loss Coverage elections from 2019 and 2020.
“The current re-election and enrollment period goes until March 15, 2021, so there is plenty of time to survey the markets and think about whether a farm needs price protection or revenue protection,” said Amy Hagerman, OSU Department of Agricultural Economics. “This may prove particularly beneficial for Oklahoma producers who have wheat base acres enrolled in the safety net programs.”
The national marketing year for wheat ends on May 31, 2021. Producers should have a better idea of how PLC will perform on those acres closer to the March 15 election and enrollment deadline. Key points include:
Todd Johnson, OSU Agricultural Communications Services
Healthy calves represent future dollars to a cow-calf operation, helping to promote the sustainability of the farm or ranch enterprise. Management plan saves time, energy and money, while improving overall animal welfare.
Cattle producers with spring calving herds that have had diarrhea problems are encouraged to contact their large animal veterinarians now to plan management strategies, Oklahoma State University Extension experts recommend.
Commonly referred to as scours, calf diarrhea can be caused by factors such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins, congenital conditions or nutrition. Many causes of scours are contagious, so scours can become a concern for the entire calf crop. A severe case can result in animal death.
Flows of cattle through feedlots should begin to show more consistent tightening in 2021.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the latest “Cattle on Feed” report this week, showing cattle and calves on feed in feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 12.0 million head on December 1, 2020, only slightly above the same period last year.
Placements in feedlots during November totaled 1.91 million head, 9% below 2019. Net placements were 1.85 million head. During November, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 520,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 460,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 400,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 306,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 130,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 90,000 head.