Handling Cattle through High Heat Humidity Indexes
As temps ramp up again this week and last until who knows when, keep in mind this beef cattle temp humidity chart when working cattle. The goal is to do the work in the white, but Mother Nature might not be offering much of that in the next week...
As cattlemen enter the summer months, they need to understand and deal with heat and humidity. We need to consider some guidelines to help us reduce additional stress on cattle during these events and incorporate some of the following practices into our management practices.
Determining Value of Beef Through Grading
When a beef animal is harvested, the value of the carcass and the resulting cuts are determined based on the grades of the carcass. Quality grading and yield grading is monitored by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS). Unlike inspection, which monitors food safety and is mandatory for meat products being sold in the United States, grading is a voluntary program and is used to determine the marketability of the product.
Implants Equate to Efficiency in Stocker Cattle
This spring as the grass continues to green up yearling cattle will find their way to the pastures of the great plains for summer grazing. Cattle are stocked on grass pasture this time of year due to its additional nutritive quality that equates to gains, relative to dormant pastures, prior to entering the feedlot. One economically justifiable way to make stocker cattle more efficient on grass is by administering implants. Utilization of implants in stocker cattle can increase average daily gain by 5-20%, improve feed efficiency by 5-15%, and improve lean tissue deposition by 5-12%.
Supplemental Summer Mineral for Grazing Cattle
As the pastures of the Great Plains begin to return to that wonderful, lush color we all love so much, cattle will be turned out for summer graze out. Generally, beef producers supplement cattle on grass with free choice mineral to meet nutrient requirements when they are not supplementing with other feedstuffs. Different landscapes and varying soil types require specific variations of mineral levels.