Air March 21, 2001

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. Spring arrived yesterday early afternoon. Don’t know if you’re feeling very springy yet, but I guess I am! Just about this time every year, I always like to throw in that on March 18 & 19, 1984, we had a nasty two day ice storm. Just because the calendar says it’s spring, doesn’t necessarily mean a thing!

This spring is going to bring some tough decisions for cattle producers. A lot of ranchers are starting to run short on hay and feed. So we’re stretching out that hay with some lower quality hay or some grain or corn gluten or wheat mids or just about anything. Be very careful though, that in trying to stretch that feed, you don’t short change those cows. At calving and for 60 days after those cows are going to have their most critical nutrional need. Coming up short on nutrition now will reduce milk production thus hurting calf performance and will also have an impact on rebreeding later on. Even if you have to go out and buy expensive hay, I think that will cost less than the problems not providing adequate nutrition later on. Another potential pit fall is going to be turning out to pasture too soon. If there isn’t enough new grass there to really meet the cows needs, she’s going to run herself ragged going from shoot to shoot. Some of you may think that the way to get around that is to just burn a little earlier. We all know that early burned pastures will green up faster. The problem is, early burning brings in its own set of long term problems. And this year, with all the cold and now all the moisture, is probably going to push things back even later. It wouldn’t surprise me if we weren’t really seeing adequate grass until the middle of May this year. Another option is going to be turning cattle out onto wheat pasture. The wheat is starting to grow now and could be grazed in a few more weeks if necessary. And if you push the pencil to it, you may find that with the price of cattle and price of wheat - you may be better off grazing the wheat on out rather than growing it for grain. Take some time looking, thinking and pushing the pencil this spring - don’t let tradition run you down a road full of potholes! For all you folks out there with birdhouses, you’ve probably been noticing more activity of late. Bluebirds are getting ready to start so get those bluebird houses cleaned out. Average return date for Purple Martings locally is about the 5th of April - start getting those houses ready - and for all of you waiting for the House Wrens, over the past 12 years they’ve always returned between April 15 and April 22.

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2001.

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